China Doll (1958)

"There's no need to scream or yell," Frank Borzage told me. "Some directors do just that, but I believe in coaxing a performance out of my players. I never raise my voice. I get results from actors by taking them aside, talking softly, making suggestions and listening to what they have to say and gaging how they feel about the role they're playing. If we have different interpretations, we settle them peacefully. If we cannot come to an agreement, we shoot the scene the way they would like and then we re-shoot the way I would like. I always play fair. I don't instruct the cameraman to put no film in the camera like some directors do." I've always regarded Borzage as the great romanticist of the cinema. Alas, we're getting close to the end of his career here and his hand is faltering. It's only in its later scenes that the movie comes across with even a little emotional impact. Part of the reason lies with Victor Mature. Hardly what you would call a sensitive actor, Mature is totally unable to suggest a sympathetic heart beneath a rough exterior. He is wholly out of tune with the film, the director, the character and the story. Ward Bond, in a major role for once, is okay, but he can do better! It's a pity he didn't try. Only the Chinese members of the cast really strike home: Li Li Hua is absolutely marvelous as the peasant girl and makes me wish that she had made more films. The actor who plays her father also makes a strong impression. Danny Chang is faultless as an opportunistic mascot. There is very little action -- all of it in the last reel -- so action fans would be well advised to give this flick a miss. William Clothier's photography has moments of great beauty.

Next-to -last movie in Borzage's filmography,one of the most important of the whole American cinema.Although the script is rather weak,compared to so many other works (see the other comments) ,there is in every Borzage movie at least one ,two and even three scenes which make the whole thing worthwhile .First there's Victore Mature ,suffering from malaria and the girl on his body ,recalling that the Borzagesque hero/heroine is prepared to sacrifice anything: Rosalie warming Pender up in "the river" or Timothy creeping in the snow in "lucky star".There's the baby playing with the identity disc (and the captain's salute to his baby-sitter) and the young girl holding it at the airport.Although it's often labeled war movie,war scenes actually take place at the end of the movie,most of the time being given over to the captain/Chinese girl relationship .Like this ? try these..."Sayonara" Joshua Logan ,1957 "Love is a Many-Splendored thing",Henry King,1955"The sand pebbles" ,Robert Wise,1966

"China Doll" is highly flawed Borzage romantic melodrama set in China in the 50s. It stars Victor Mature as an American pilot Cliff Brandon taking part in a war against the Japanese. He falls in love and marries a Chinese housekeeper Shu-Jen, played by Li Li Hua. The continuing exploration of love transcending everything - race, religion, war, death - is competently stated. The film is also very poignant in some passages, as is most of Borzage. However, if you look at it closely, it doesn't really jell.The expert Borzage scholar John Belton, whom I owe a lot in my understanding of Borzage, ranks "China Doll" with the director's other melodramas - "7th Seventh", "A Farewell to Arms", "Man's Castle", "The Mortal Storm", "Three Comrades", "Till We Meet Again". Belton notes that all these works "contain hostile backgrounds which Borzage's fragile characters ultimately surpass." But I find "China Doll" significantly problematic and less memorable than those films. I get the feeling that something is missing; much of it is characterized by an air of aimlessness or uncertainty. I didn't get that haunting spark that underlies the luminous lovers in much of Borzage's best work. There is an apparent misalliance between Mature and Li Li Hua. I find Mature's character to be stiff, callow and frail. His careless demeanor does not contrast well with Hua's innocence or devotion. And ultimately (and regrettably) "China Doll" falls very short of greatness.

I agree that it was touching in spots, downright sad in others, but what really spoiled it for me was the fact that the leading man and lady weren't able to kiss because of the race issue. That made it seem very stilted and unbelievable. Just when did they throw out the ban on interracial kissing, anyway?